The McGrath Company has prepared a sales budget of 42,000 finished units for a 3-month period. The company has an inventory of 13,000 units of finished goods on hand at December 31 and has a target finished-goods inventory of 15,000 units at the end of the succeeding quarter.

It takes 3 gallons of direct materials to make one unit of finished product. The company has an inventory of 61,000 gallons of direct materials at December 31 and has a target ending inventory of 53,000 gallons at the end of the succeeding quarter. How many gallons of direct materials should McGrath Company purchase during the 3 months ending March 31?